GeneOrder3.0: Software for comparing the order of genes in pairs of small bacterial genomes

Background  

An increasing number of whole viral and bacterial genomes are being sequenced and deposited in public databases. In parallel to the mounting interest in whole genomes, the number of whole genome analyses software tools is also increasing. GeneOrder was originally developed to provide an analysis of genes between two genomes, allowing visualization of gene order and synteny comparisons of any small genomes. It was originally developed for comparing virus, mitochondrion and chloroplast genomes. This is now extended to small bacterial genomes of sizes less than 2 Mb.     

Antineoplastic and antibacterial activity of some mononuclear Ru(II) complexes

These ligands (L) show a bidentate behavior, forming octahedral ruthenium complexes. The title complexes were subjected to in-vivo anticancer activity tests against a transplantable murine tumor cell line, Ehrlich's Ascitic Carcinoma (EAC) and in-vitro antibacterial activity against several Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains. [Ru(bpy)2(ihqs)]Cl2 and [Ru(bpy)2 (hc)]Cl2 (where bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, ihqs = 7-iodo-8hydroxy quinoline-5-sulphonic acid and hc = 3-hydroxy coumarin) showed promising antitumor activity. Treatment with these complexes prolonged the life span of EAC bearing mice as well as decreased their tumor volume and viable ascitic cell count. All the tested complexes exhibited mild to moderate antibacterial activity.     

MMDB: Entrez's 3D-structure database

Three-dimensional structures are now known within most protein families and it is likely, when searching a sequence database, that one will identify a homolog of known structure. The goal of Entrez's 3D-structure database is to make structure information and the functional annotation it can provide easily accessible to molecular biologists. To this end, Entrez's search engine provides several powerful features: (i) links between databases, for example between a protein's sequence and structure; (ii) pre-computed sequence and structure neighbors; and (iii) structure and sequence/structure alignment visualization. Here, we focus on a new feature of Entrez's Molecular Modeling Database (MMDB): Graphical summaries of the biological annotation available for each 3D structure, based on the results of automated comparative analysis. MMDB is available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Entrez/structure.html.     

The immunomodulatory effects of gentamicin, imipenem, piperacillin and amphotericin B on LAK effector function in vitro

An understanding of the immunomodulating effects of anti-microbial regimens on recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) induced peripheral leukocyte function, i.e. lymphokine-activated killer (LAK)-cell efficacy, would be clinically useful in the selection of commonly employed bone marrow transplantation (BMT) antibiotics to avoid post-transplant complications and optimize anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-tumor therapies. In this report we evaluated the modulatory effects of a number of antibiotics used in BMT on LAK-cell cytotoxicities, in vitro. Our data showed that, even at serum trough titer, amphotericin B was significantly (P < or =0.05) immunostimulatory, whereas gentamicin, imipenem, and piperacillin, individually, were significantly (P < or =0.05) immunosuppressive. Statistical analysis detected no modulation due to aztreonam, amikacin, cotrimoxazole, or ceftazidime, or any of the six cephalosporins tested at molar equivalent concentration. We conclude that certain antibiotics may be more suitable for infection prone BMT hosts.     

Biochemical profile of erythrocyte membrane of jaundiced neonates

Studies in newborn humans have demonstrated alteration in the lipid, phospholipid and cholesterol content when compared with age-matched control. Membrane bound (Na+ + K+)ATPase activity is found to be significantly increased in jaundiced neonates. Alteration in membrane permeability characteristics in jaundiced neonates causes severe microenvironmental changes in red blood cell profile.     

Crinum alkaloids: their chemistry and biology

The current staus of research of free and glycosylated alkaloids occuring in members of the genus Crinum is reviewed. The distribution, isolation, spectral properties, structural properties, inter conventions and biological acitivities of these alkaloids are presented.     

Effects of fasting and nutritional restriction on the isotopic ratios of nitrogen and carbon: a meta‐analysis

Many organisms experience fasting in their life time, and this physiological process has the potential to alter stable isotope values of organisms, and confound interpretation of food web studies. However, previous studies on the effects of fasting and starvation on stable isotopes show disparate results, and have never been quantitatively synthesized. We performed a laboratory experiment and meta‐analysis to determine how stable isotopes of δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C change with fasting, and we tested whether moderators such as taxa and tissue explain residual variation. We collected literature data from a wide variety of taxa and tissues. We surveyed over 2000 papers, and of these, 26 met our selection criteria, resulting in 51 data points for δ¹⁵N, and 43 data points for δ¹³C. We determine that fasting causes an average increase in the isotopic value of organisms of 0.5‰ for δ¹⁵N and that the only significant moderator is tissue type. We find that the overall effect size for δ¹³C is not significant, but when the significant moderator of tissue is considered, significant increases in blood and whole organisms are seen with fasting. Our results show that across tissues and taxa, the nutritional status of an organism must be considered when interpreting stable isotope data, as fasting can cause large differences in stable isotope values that would be otherwise attributed to other factors.